PS2 approaches a million in South Korea

Sony's PlayStation 2 is on track to reach a million unit installed base in South Korea by the end of 2004, according to the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Korea, Hiroyuki Kunugita.

Although it's a fairly small number in itself - especially considering that Sony began selling the PS2 officially in the country way back in December 2001 - it still represents a significant milestone in a territory that is massively dominated by PC online gaming.

The PlayStation 2 currently holds some 90 per cent of the console market in South Korea, according to Kunugita, and efforts to reduce software piracy and release online titles in the market have been having a marked effect on sales.

South Korea is one of the largest markets in the world for PC online games, and both locally developed titles (such as Ragnarok Online and Lineage) and US-developed software (such as Starcraft and Counter-Strike) have become hugely popular there.

Kunugita hopes to stimulate interest in the console market by providing more locally developed content for the PS2 - with the first native title set to launch later this year. Tellingly, that first title will be a new version of Magna Carta - a popular Korean PC RPG title. Further locally developed software is expected to follow.